Life of a Pureblood (Year 3)
by morganna12
Summary: After successfully bringing back the Dark Lord in the Chamber of Secrets, the last thing the four Slytherins want to do is go back to Hogwarts for another monotonous year of classwork. But the Dark Lord has ordered them to keep an eye on Potter and Dumbledore as well as Professor Snape. When Sirius Black escapes Azkaban, the friends find out that not everything is as it seems.
1. Pity

Chapter 1

"Why do we have to go back?" Blaise groaned, lying back on the grass. The four friends had spent the entire summer at Malfoy Manor, trying to keep informed of the Dark Lord's plans. Contrary to what Draco had assumed, the four friends were pretty up-to-date on the current happenings within the meetings, though they weren't personally allowed to attend. However, tonight, for the first night ever, they were expected to be present the meeting. Presumably, this was to talk about the Dark Lord's expectations for the four of them returning to Hogwarts and reporting on Dumbledore, Potter and Professor Snape's activities.

"We have four more years at Hogwarts, Blaise," Hermione commented, "You might as well get used to it."

"Just think of it as spying on Potter and Dumbledore, with some schoolwork on the side." Pansy suggested.

"Besides, we'll be allowed to go to Hogsmeade this year," Hermione added in, "and we get to start our new classes."

"We've agreed that we're going to take the classes Potter is taking, right?" Draco said, "so we can keep a better eye on him."

"Yes, so let's just hope that he doesn't take anything too boring." Blaise replied, "I would hate to be stuck in something like Divination."

"Hermione, let's head up to the Manor. I want to change before the meeting." Pansy said, standing up. Hermione immediately got to her feet and followed her friend inside.

Blaise, Hermione and Pansy all had guest rooms in Malfoy Manor, due to the amount of time the friends had spent there over the summer. Hermione followed Pansy to her room, stopping a house elf on the way.

"Get me the Daily Prophet from today, will you? I'll be in Pansy's room."

The elf nodded and disappeared.

"You've been reading the newspaper an awful lot this summer," Pansy commented, as she opened her door.

"Yes, well, after seeing the article about the Weasley's and their trip to Egypt, you could say I'm curious." Hermione replied, plopping down onto Pansy's bed, "Just want to see if there's anything going on in the world, Pans."

Pansy went into the adjoining bathroom to change, just as the house elf appeared with the newspaper. When Hermione saw the front-page story, she gasped.

"What's wrong?" Pansy called.

"Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban."

* * *

The four Slytherins followed their parents into the Malfoy's dining room ten minutes before the meeting began, though the room was already almost full. The Dark Lord was not yet present, and everyone was talking about Sirius Black's escape. Hermione knew the only the facts when it came to Sirius Black; he was friends with the Potters and as far as the public knew, was their Secret Keeper and betrayed them to the Dark Lord and killed Peter Pettigrew, another friend of the Potters who had confronted Sirius after the incident in Godric's Hollow. However, Hermione, as well as everyone else in the room, knew that Sirius Black had never betrayed the Potters—it had been Peter Pettigrew all along. The confrontation between Black and Pettigrew had obviously been Black's revenge on Pettigrew for betraying their friends. It was too bad, really, that Pettigrew had died in the altercation. He could have been a useful spy.

Everything went silent as the Dark Lord suddenly walked into the room. Hermione watched him as he walked smoothly toward his chair at the head of the table, without saying a word.

"Hello, my followers," he said, once he had taken his seat.

"My Lord," everyone murmured.

"We have much to discuss tonight, especially with this occurrence at Azkaban. Does anyone know how Black managed to escape?"

"As you know, my Lord, I have… obtained a contact with a warden of Azkaban. They have not yet figured out how he managed to escape—though it seems he had no outside help." Lucius said.

"No outside help," the Dark Lord repeated, "That is intriguing. I wonder why Black has decided only now to attempt escape."

"The public thinks that he is going to go after Potter," Macnair added in, "I've heard that they are sending Dementors to Hogwarts to guard the castle."

"Interesting," the Dark Lord said, "While the movements of Sirius Black mean very little to me, keep an eye on the situation, Macnair. I very much doubt he is headed toward Hogwarts, but he must have had an important reason to escape Azkaban when he did.

"On the topic of Hogwarts," the Dark Lord paused to look at the young Slytherins at the other end of the table, "I know the four of you are aware that you will need to keep a close eye on the activities of Potter and Dumbledore. Have you given any thought to how you plan on doing this?"

They all looked at each other, but Hermione spoke, "All we have determined as of now, my Lord, is that we are waiting to choose our extra classes until we find out what classes Potter is taking. If we take the same classes as him, we will have very similar schedules, which will help us watch him without suspicion."

The Dark Lord nodded, "That is a good start. However, that is not my only task for you. As you all know," he looked around the room at everyone, "Severus is not with us at the current time. It saddens me that we do not know of his loyalty, but he has been around Dumbledore for many years. If we determine that he is still loyal, you will need to pass along a message to him. Until then, watch him as well and see if you can determine where his loyalties lie."

"Yes, my Lord," the four friends said, in unison.

"Next order of business. Dorian," the Dark Lord gestured at Hermione's father, "I heard you have been able to acquire a guest for the evening."

Hermione's father nodded, "Shall I retrieve him from the dungeons, my Lord?"

"Yes, now seems as good a time as any to have a conversation with an old friend."

Hermione glanced over at her father as he exited the room, and then looked over at Draco. No one at the table spoke, obviously already knowing who the 'guest' was. _Who could it be_, Hermione wondered. Hermione looked at her mother, who gave her a reassuring smile. _It can't really be an old friend_, she reasoned, _or they wouldn't be in the dungeons_. _Perhaps it was someone who betrayed the Dark Lord_. The door opened and Hermione's father walked in, dragging a man behind him.

"Igor Karkaroff," Draco whispered to her. Suddenly it all made sense. Hermione's dad had told her about Igor—how he was captured and gave up the names of several Death Eaters in order to get out of Azkaban.

"He's going to kill him," Hermione whispered.

Igor went white when he saw the Dark Lord.

"My Lord," Karkaroff said, dropping to his knees, though Hermione's father still had his arm in a tight grip, "I cannot believe it."

"Igor," the Dark Lord said smoothly, "There is no need for a false show of loyalty, when we all know you do not possess a shred of it."

If it was possible, Karkaroff's face got whiter.

"My Lord—"

"I do not want to hear your excuses, Igor. I want to hear about what you have done with your life after betraying your friends."

"My Lord, I only—"

"Tell me about your life," the Dark Lord said, sharply, "I will not ask again."

"I am Headmaster of Durmstrang, my Lord."

"Did you ever marry, Igor? Have children?"

"No, my Lord."

"That is a pity. You really should have taken advantage of your freedom. Found a pretty witch, had some kids. It seems your only real accomplishment is being Headmaster."

Karkaroff did not speak.

"I wonder what Crouch would have done with his freedom—or Rookwood." The Dark Lord asked, pensively, dropping in the names of the two wizards Karkaroff had betrayed, "Pity," the Dark Lord repeated, "Durmstrang will have to find a new Headmaster. _Avada Kedavra_."

Hermione's father let go of Karkaoff's arm and he fell face down to the floor.

"That concludes our meeting for tonight, my friends." With that, the Dark Lord swept out of the room.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Here it is! Year 3! I'm very excited about this year pretty much just because the Slytherins are growing up which means they can be more badass. Please review and tell me what you think, I know it was a short chapter but I just wanted to get the ball rolling!

_**Please**_ _**read:**_As you know, the titles for these books are kind of lame: Life of a Pureblood, Life of a Pureblood (Year 2) and now Life of a Pureblood (Year 3). If anyone has any suggestions for cooler names please let me know!


	2. Watch This

Chapter 2

"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," Pansy whispered, turning away from Daphne Greengrass, who had given her the gossip on what classes Potter was taking.

"He would pick the worst two bloody classes out of all of the options." Blaise complained, glaring at Potter over at the Gryffindor table.

Everyone years two through seven had just taken their seats at their respective tables. The Sorting had just begun, not that the four Slytherins were paying much attention.

"Blaise, our only job this year is to watch Potter. Who cares what classes we have to take in order to do that?" Draco snapped.

"Personally, I'm glad that he trusts us to do anything," Pansy added in, "I feel like one day, we're going to be the youngest Death Eaters in history."

"Quiet, Pansy," Hermione said, looking around, "You know it's still a secret."

"When do you think the Dark Lord is going to announce his return?" Blaise asked, quietly.

"I think that he'll quietly begin contacting followers, until every Death Eater is back in the mix. Then he'll probably try to start infiltrating the Ministry," Hermione replied, "Once he thinks he's established enough power secretly, he'll want to do something big."

"It's safe to say that won't be for a while," Draco said.

Finally, the Sorting ended and Dumbledore got up to speak.

"I have only two announcements before we begin to enjoy our marvelous feast. First off, I would like to introduce Remus Lupin, who will be taking over the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."

Hermione looked up at the staff table to see a bedraggled man in old robes stand up and wave.

"He looks," Pansy paused, "poor."

"Lupin," Hermione repeated, "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"My second announcement is that Professor Kettleburn has retired and that Rubeus Hagrid will be the new Care of Magical Creatures professor."

The students began to clap as Hagrid stood up, but Blaise groaned, banging his head down onto the table. No one in Slytherin even pretended to be happy about the news.

"And we're taking that class," Blaise moaned.

"Don't worry, Blaise," Draco grinned, "I think I have a few ideas on how to make it interesting."

"I do not like the sound of that." Pansy replied, laughing.

* * *

Hermione wondered about Hagrid's sanity from the day she met him, but she thought he must be barmy when she saw the creature standing in front of them at their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson: a Hippogriff. Hiffogriffs, in general, could be safe creatures but not with a bunch of third years that don't listen to precautions. This was a more suitable lesson for fifth years, really, and when Hagrid made Potter ride the creature, she actually almost started laughing. With lessons like this, someone was bound to get hurt in every class until the end of the year.

Surprisingly though, Potter completed the flight on the Hippogriff without dying. He hopped off of the creature and headed back toward the group. It was then that she heard Draco whisper to Blaise,

"Watch this, mate."

He strode past Potter and toward the creature, and Hermione just knew that he was going to do something stupid.

"Oh, you're not dangerous at all, are you? Certainly not, if Potter can ride you without injury, you great ugly beast."

The first rule of dealing with a Hippogriff is you don't insult them. Hermione knew that Draco had heard Hagrid say that earlier. The Hippogriff attacked Draco before Hermione could even blink. Of course, he got his arm out to block the majority of the blow but Hermione still gasped when he fell to the ground. Pansy smacked Blaise when he started laughing.

Hagrid jumped in from of the Hippogriff to stop its attack and once he had calmed it down to an extent, he threw several dead ferrets across the yard to divert its attention from Draco. Hermione could hear his overdramatic groans of pain from where she was standing.

"It's killing me, it's killing me."

"You're fine, Malfoy, it's just a scratch." Hagrid said, sounding frazzled.

"Hagrid, he needs to be taken to the Hospital Wing," Longbottom told him. Hagrid nodded his agreement, quickly picked up Draco and began walking toward the castle.

"Class dismissed!" He called out. Hermione, Blaise and Pansy grabbed their bags and followed Hagrid up to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey made the Slytherins wait outside the curtain while she tended to Draco, and Blaise was already complaining.

"I'm starving," he whined, "we're missing dinner."

"Go to dinner, then," Hermione replied, shooing them away, "I'll wait here."

"You want us to bring you back anything?" Pansy asked, as the two friends headed to the door.

"I'm fine, thanks!" She called back. _Just wait until I get my hands on you, Draco Malfoy, I am going to kill you_.

A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey came out from behind the curtain and pulled it open.

"He'll be fine in a couple of days." She told Hermione, walking away. Hermione immediately stomped over to Draco.

"You prat," Hermione snapped, smacking him, "Why would you do something so stupid?"

Draco grinned, "Aw, Hermione, were you worried about me?"

Narrowing her eyes, she smacked him again, this time on his injured arm. He winced.

"Never do that again." She said, tartly, "You have no idea what could have happened. What if Hagrid hadn't gotten that beast away from you in time?"

Draco shot her a look.

"I think I can handle myself against a Hippogriff, Hermione."

Hermione raised her hand to hit him again. Draco held his hands up in defense.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'll never do it again. Merlin, woman."

Grudgingly, Hermione put her hand back down.

"Now, do you want to explain to me your motives behind letting a Hippogriff attack you?"

"I thought that would have been obvious, Hermione. I'm trying to get Hagrid fired. I've already told Madam Pomfrey to Owl my father, I suspect he won't be pleased to hear I've been injured during a lesson."

"I have half a mind to Owl him myself and tell him the real story."

"Go ahead," Draco smirked, "I'm sure he'll still go along with it to get that oaf fired."

Hermione couldn't help but smile, knowing that that was easily the truth. Lucius would gladly fight with the school over a lie.

"See, it was a good idea." Draco said, triumphantly.

* * *

The following weeks went on without incident, except for one sighting of Sirius Black in a town close to Hogwarts. It seemed that the Dark Lord might have been wrong—it certainly seemed possible that Black was heading toward Hogwarts, but the only question was why? Did he want to come find Potter and tell him the truth about what happened that night in Godric's Hollow? If so, surely there had to be an easier way to do that than trying to sneak into Hogwarts.

"I hate not being home," Pansy said, as the four friends sat in the Slytherin Common Room after the Halloween Feast, "I want to know what the Dark Lord is planning."

"I know," Hermione agreed, "It is rather hard to act ordinary when extraordinary things are happening just outside your reach."

"One day—" Blaise started, but he trailed off when he saw Professor Snape hurry into the Common Room.

"Students, I am going to need all of you to follow me to the Great Hall. Now."

Everyone seemed to understand that something serious was happening, and they followed him out of the Common Room immediately.

"Professor Snape," Hermione hurried up to walk next to him, "What's going on?"

"Sirius Black was in the castle earlier this evening," he said, sharply, "All students will be sleeping in the Great Hall while we insure that he is no longer here."

Hermione came to a halt abruptly, in shock.

"Sirius Black is in the castle," she hissed to her friends, "We need to stop by the Owlery and let Lucius know."

Suddenly, all of Hufflepuff came around the corner on their way to the Great Hall.

"We can't right now," Draco muttered, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the door.

"Draco, we need—"

"We will go in the morning," he assured, leading the group over to the sleeping bags, "Now where do you want to sleep?"

Hermione shot him an irritated look, then gestured to where Potter, Weasel and Longbottom were laying out their sleeping bags.

"Sorry," he grinned, "stupid question."

The Slytherins headed as close to the trio as they could without being suspicious. Within minutes, the story of what had happened had circulated the room. The Gryffindors were on their way back to Gryffindor Tower, but they couldn't get into the Common Room because the Fat Lady's portrait had been torn to shreds.

"You know what tonight is the anniversary of, right?" Hermione whispered to her friends.

"The Potters' death." Pansy whispered back, "Do you think that's a coincidence?"

Hermione cast a look over at Potter,

"I don't know."

Three hours later Dumbledore came back into the Great Hall. Hermione had been fighting off sleep, knowing that he would come back. She wanted to hear the news. He went right over to Professor Snape, who was walked in only a few minutes before and was standing nearby.

"Any sign of him, Severus?" He asked.

"I checked the Astronomy Tower and the Owlery—no sign of Black."

"Ah, well, I didn't really except him to linger."

"Do you have any idea how he got into the castle?" Professor Snape asked.

"Several ideas, Severus, though each of them as unlikely than the next."

"I believe you remember that I warned you before you hired—"

"Not one professor in this castle would help Sirius Black enter it," Dumbledore said, calmly, "I am sure of that."

"He could not have entered Hogwarts without help, Headmaster." Professor Snape continued.

"I have to go down to the dementors—tell them that the search was unsuccessful."

With that, Hermione heard his footsteps walking away. Professor Snape sighed, and then continued his rounds around the silent hall.

What could that mean? Hermione thought. The only new professor was Lupin. Was Professor Snape implying that he helped Black get into the castle?

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! If you haven't been on my profile (which I mean, you probably haven't) I wrote that I am going to update this story every Sunday. I figured that would be a good way of making it more consistent! See you next week!

Thanks to **thelovelyDauntless, jennabolla, kittycatmeowpurr, roon0, princess-alice-malfoy-granger, Litobee, lovethanfight, mollu123456789, cleotheo, Ramyfan,** and** the-clumsy-one **for reviewing! Keep it up! :)


	3. Three Steps Behind

Chapter 3

By the time everyone had woken up the next morning, she had figured it out.

"Remus Lupin was friends with Potter, Black and Pettigrew at school. That's why I thought his name was familiar." Hermione said, as they headed back to the Slytherin Common Room to change for breakfast.

"So Professor Snape thinks Lupin is helping Black get into the castle?" Blaise asked, baffled, "Why would he do that? No one knows that Black is innocent—except for us and the rest of the Death Eaters."

"Do you think he somehow managed to get Lupin alone before we all came back to Hogwarts? He could have told him the real story then." Pansy speculated.

"It seems highly unlikely," Draco replied, "Lupin would have gone to Dumbledore if that had happened."

"What are we missing?" Hermione realized, "There must be something."

"Well, we're not going to figure it out now." Draco told them.

* * *

"You know, Lupin has been missing a lot of classes," Hermione said a week later, as they headed down to the Quidditch Pitch. It was pouring rain, and Hermione had enchanted an umbrella to be large enough to fit all four of them under it comfortably. Draco had added a spell to keep it from being whipped around by the roaring wind.

"Let me guess, you have a theory." Blaise replied.

"Working on one," she answered with a grin. "Have any of you started the werewolf essay that Professor Snape assigned in Lupin's class?"

The three friends shook their heads and since Hermione wasn't yet sure of her theory, she changed the subject.

"Draco, it sure is lucky your arm is still injured or you would have to be playing in this weather." She said, sarcastically, knowing that his arm was fine and that the Slytherin team had used it as an excuse to get out of the game.

They all laughed and headed up into the stands. The game today was going to be Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff; Hermione and Pansy hadn't even wanted to attend, but the boys had convinced them that it would be amusing to watch the teams suffer in the poor weather, especially Potter.

"I hope this goes by quickly," Pansy whispered to Hermione as the game begun, "I don't want to stand out here all day."

"Not even for Draco?" Hermione teased, but her friend shot her a serious look.

"I don't like Draco like that anymore," she said under her breath, "I've known him far too long—he's too much like a brother."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "When did you come to this conclusion?"

"About the same time I noticed how he looks at you, and you at him," Pansy replied with a smirk, "and I realized I wasn't jealous."

Hermione shoved Pansy's shoulder, lightly, "We don't look at each other in any kind of way. Don't give up on my account."

"I'm not giving up, I've just set my sights on someone else," Pansy grinned, glancing down the stands to where Adrian Pucey, a Chaser on the Slytherin team, was sitting.

"Adrian? Really?" Hermione asked, thoughtfully, "I approve."

"What are you two talking about?" Blaise asked, looking away from the game.

"Nothing." They said together, turning to look at the field.

Suddenly, they felt a chill that wasn't coming from the wind.

"What's going on?" Pansy asked. Hermione whipped her head around and saw the source of the problem. Dementors.

"What are they doing on the grounds?" Hermione heard Draco say, just as she saw someone fall from his broom.

Someone screamed, and Hermione saw a light burst from a wand in the stands, slowing down whoever was falling until they safely reached the ground.

Hermione watched as Dumbledore and several other professors ran onto the field. Dumbledore waved his wand and a silver Phoenix—his Patronus, burst from it, chasing off the Dementors. The professors hurried the student off of the field as others began to land. It was only then that everyone realized that the Hufflepuff seeker, Cedric Diggory, was holding the Snitch.

"It must have been Potter," Draco said, still staring at the group heading quickly to the castle, "He's the only one that is affected that much by the Dementors."

"Aren't you glad you came to the game now?" Blaise joked, nudging Pansy.

"Yes, now can we _please_ head back up to the castle before we all catch our deaths?"

* * *

A month had passed before Hermione felt comfortable divulging her findings to her friends. It wasn't like her to hide things from them, but she wanted to wait for another moon cycle for verification.

"Lupin is a werewolf," she told them, as they took their seats at a table in the Three Broomsticks. They were enjoying their second ever Hogsmeade weekend, and the snow was coming down heavily outside. The friends had chosen a table close to the Golden Duo, since Potter did not have permission to come to the village.

Butterbeer dripped down Blaise's face as he stared at her in shock. She was glad that she still had the ability to shock her friends, seeing as this school year had brought numerous revelations about Sirius Black and his friends during their time at Hogwarts.

"Are you sure?" Pansy asked, leaning in closer and lowering her voice.

"I was almost positive last month, after Professor Snape assigned the essay. I wanted to wait and see if he mysteriously 'got ill' at the full moon again, and he did. There's no doubt about it, he is definitely a werewolf."

"Do you think Dumbledore knows?" Blaise asked, finally wiping the butterbeer off of his chin.

"Impossible," Pansy said, "He wouldn't hire him if he knew. There's no way he's that stupid—that would be so dangerous."

"Seems like exactly something Dumbledore would do," Draco commented, offhandedly. Suddenly, he nudged Hermione and pointed to the door opening and closing on its own. Hermione looked over in time to see Weasel and Longbottom jump to their feet and run out the door, "Something's going on."

"Let's go." Hermione said, shooting up and heading to the door. Hermione could hear Blaise complaining before chugging his butterbeer and following them out.

The snow made it hard to see where the two Gryffindors went, but luckily for them, Weasel was an easy person to spot in the snow. They followed them at a distance until they entered a wooded area. It was then that the Slytherins picked up the pace, weaving between trees until they came to a clearing. Weasel was standing in front of a rock with Longbottom, apparently talking to nobody.

"Potter must be under his invisibility cloak," Hermione whispered, peeking her head out from behind a tree to watch. As she suspected, Weasel lifted his hand to take off the cloak, and Potter came into sight. She could tell even from a distance that he was upset, but she couldn't hear what they were saying.

"I wish we could get closer," Hermione muttered, moving forward a bit. She froze as she stepped on a stick and it broke with a loud _crack_! Draco grabbed her quickly and pulled her back behind the tree just as Longbottom turned to look around.

"Well that was close." Draco said, grinning.

Suddenly, the words that Potter were saying became very clear.

"HE WAS THEIR FRIEND," he yelled, "AND HE BETRAYED THEM."

"I guess Potter's just now finding out the _truth_," Pansy laughed quietly, "It's funny that they're always at least three steps behind us."

"I hope he finds me," Potter shouted, "because when he does, I'll be ready—I'll kill him."

"A 13-year old wizard with no exceptional talent is going to kill an alleged mass-murderer," Draco muttered, shaking his head, "that seems very realistic."

"Let's get out of here before they head back," Hermione said and the four friends started back to Hogsmeade.

"You know," Blaise started, as they walked, "I'm surprised Weasel hasn't tried to fight any of us yet this year. Since the whole dead sister thing."

"You really have a way with words, Blaise," Hermione commented.

"I suspect they've just been preoccupied with Sirius Black and Potter passing out around dementors every other week." Draco said, "Why? Do you want to fight him?"

Blaise shrugged, "Kind of. We've just been so busy watching them, we haven't really been messing with them. I miss it."

"Well," Hermione said, throwing an arm around his shoulder, "Let's see if we can change that."

* * *

**Author's Note: **You know the drill, please review! :) Got nothing else to say really, hope everyone has a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Thanks to **ImGonnaCallYouFern**, **thelovelyDauntless**, **LadiePhoenix007**, Toolazytologin, **princess-alice-malfoy-granger**, **mollu123456789**, **Ellybelly07**, **DauntlessSlytherinTribute**, **Carlaisabel**, **cleotheo** and **Ramyfan **for reviewing! :)


	4. Fight Fair

Chapter 4

With Christmas Holidays right around the corner, the four Slytherins amped up their watches on the Gryffindors but as Blaise had suggested, they also decided to go back to their old ways and torture them as much as possible. Blaise was especially unsubtle when it came to talking about Weaselette loudly whenever possible.

"It's a good thing she died, really," he said brashly, on the way to Potions with the three Gryffindors directly in front of them, "I was going to break up with her but I was afraid it would devastate her. She saved me a lot of trouble."

Weasel jerked to a sudden stop and Hermione could see Potter and Longbottom frantically whispering to him, trying to calm him down. Weasel had been able to buy a new wand over the summer, so she was very curious to see how he would fare in a duel now. Blaise pulled his wand out of his pocket, twirling it around in his hand while he waited for Weasel to erupt. Suddenly, he spun around, wand raised.

"Tarantallegra," he bellowed, but Blaise shielded himself easily, with a grin on his face.

"Rictusempra," Weasel tried again but again, Blaise effortlessly blocked it.

"This is too easy," he laughed, "Tarantallegra," he said. Weasel tried to put up a shield to block it, but wasn't quick enough. His legs began to jerk around wildly, "Rictusempra," he then said.

"Blaise," Hermione chastised, laughing, as Weasel began to cackle uncontrollably and fall to the ground, though his legs were still jerking around from the previous spell, "I can't imagine what those two spells feel like together."

"You're about to," Potter said, angrily grabbing his wand from his pocket, "Tarantallegra!"

Hermione, who had not been expecting to be attacked, did not have time to pull her wand out to block the spell, and suddenly her legs were out of her own control, jerking violently.

"Rictusempra," he then said, and Hermione fell to the floor, laughing. The combination of the two spells was very overwhelming, as though she couldn't control anything happening to her body.

"You pull a wand out on an unarmed witch?" Draco asked, angrily, pulling out his own wand, "Very fair, Potter."

The two boys pointed their wands at each other, glaring. Pansy quickly whispered the counter-curse to the spells on Hermione.

"You're one to talk about fair," Potter spat back, "Slytherins _never_ fight fair."

"Very true," Draco said, smirking, "Levicorpus."

Suddenly, Potter was raised into the air, controlled only by Draco holding him up.

"Put him down!" Longbottom exclaimed, nervously. Draco dropped his wand abruptly, causing Potter to fall a few feet but still not touch the ground.

"Put him down, you say?" Draco answered, his smirk turning into a full-on grin, as he raised his wand back up, until Potter was practically touching the ceiling.

"Not like that," Weasel roared, still fighting the effects of both of the spells.

"It wouldn't be very Slytherin of me," Draco said, smoothly, "to put him down normally. And I am, after all, a Slytherin."

"I heard Slytherins don't fight fair," Hermione put in.

Pansy sighed and pulled out her wand and pointed it at Weasel.

"Silencio. Sorry," she said to Draco, "His laughter was really starting to get on my nerves."

"Put me down, Malfoy," Potter said, angrily, "any moment now someone will come around the corner and see you."

"That sounds terrifying," Draco replied, melodramatically, "But have it your way."

Draco stowed his wand, and Potter began to fall.

"Petrificus Totalus," Blaise said, just before Potter hit the ground. He hit the stone floor in a full body bind, which Hermione had to imagine would hurt quite a bit.

"Class?" Draco asked, and the three friends nodded and headed to Potions.

"Do you think Longbottom will be able to revive them?" Pansy asked, laughing, "I don't think he knows the counter-curse."

"Best case scenario, he comes into class with a Silenced Weasel and a Body-Binded Potter." Blaise replied.

And luckily for the Slytherins, that is exactly what happened.

"Longbottom, Weasley, what is the meaning of this?" Professor Snape asked, as Longbottom levitated Potter into the room. Weasel opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Hermione saw Professor Snape smirk momentarily, before waving his wand and performing the counter-curses on both boys.

"It was them, Professor," Weasel said, pointing at them. The Slytherins put on their best confused-faces and turned to look at Professor Snape.

"Is that so, Weasley? I find that hard to believe, since they were all on time for today's lesson, the same of which I cannot say for the three of you. 10 points from Gryffindor, apiece."

"You can't honestly—" Potter began, but Professor Snape cut him off.

"Sit down, Potter," he said smoothly, "before I make it 20."

"Tell me you didn't miss this," Blaise whispered to the friends, grinning.

* * *

"I got a letter from my father," Draco said, a few weeks later, "Let's open it together. I think it's about whether we should be staying here for the holidays."

"Well Potter and the lot of them are staying at Hogwarts," Pansy said, as she approached the group, "It's been confirmed."

"You and your sources," Blaise said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, open it," Hermione prompted.

"It's not my father's handwriting," Draco said, quietly, before glancing at the signature at the bottom, "It's from the Dark Lord."

"Somehow I doubt he signed it, 'Sincerely, the Dark Lord." Blaise said, jokingly. Pansy smacked him, as Draco shot him a look.

"He wants us to stay here over the holidays to keep an eye on Potter," he told them.

Blaise groaned.

"Shut up, Blaise." The three friends said together.

* * *

"Why do you think they're heading down to Hagrid's so early?" Hermione whispered, as she and Pansy followed the Gryffindors the morning after Christmas.

"It certainly seemed important, for how quickly they ran out of the Great Hall." Pansy replied, shivering, "Merlin, it's cold out."

"We're not going to be able to eavesdrop once they go inside," Hermione realized.

"Maybe he won't be inside," Pansy added, "Look, they're not even heading to the hut."

It seemed that luck was on their side that morning, because the Gryffindors met Hagrid by the edge of the lake, with enough tree coverage that they could eavesdrop without a problem.

"What's happened, Hagrid?" Potter asked, "How was the hearing?"

"The hearing about what happened with Draco and that Hippogriff," Hermione whispered to Pansy, "I completely forgot."

"Do you think he got sacked?" Pansy replied, grinning.

"If Lucius got his way."

"I said my piece," Hagrid said, gruffly, trying to cover up the fact that he was crying, "But then Lucius Malfoy got up an' yeh can imagine… he asked fer the wors', did ol' Lucius."

"They're not sacking you?" Weasel exclaimed.

"No."

"Damn it," the two Slytherins whispered simultaneously.

"Buckbeak's bin sentenced ter death."

Hermione and Pansy looked at each other as huge grins appeared on their faces.

"Let's go tell the boys," Pansy whispered, and the two of them rushed back up to the castle.

* * *

"You know what I heard," Pansy said, the first dinner back from holiday, "Potter got a Firebolt for Christmas, but they didn't know who it was from… no note was left or anything—once word got to McGonagall, she went and confiscated it. She thinks it might have been sent by Sirius Black, with some curses on it or something."

Both Blaise and Draco erupted into laughter.

"Does that mean Potter will have to play us with one of the school brooms?" Draco asked, "They'll be done for."

"Who's turn is it to follow Potter after dinner?" Blaise asked, suddenly.

"Mine," Hermione replied, "Why?"

"Because he's leaving now." Blaise said, pointing at Potter as he disappeared through the doors.

"'Bye!" Hermione said, rapidly, as she jumped to her feet and headed after him.

Hermione was surprised when Potter did not go up the stairs, as he normally would to go back to the Gryffindor Common Room, but he instead headed for Lupin's classroom and office.

"What are you up to, Potter?" Hermione whispered to herself, as he knocked on Lupin's office door and was let inside.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry this update was a day late! I made a comment on my profile explaining that I have had a very hectic week and didn't have time to write the chapter, so hopefully you all forgive me! :/ I know that this is a pretty short chapter, but just wait until things get going ;) It's going to be a crazy year! Please review and tell me what you thought of the chapter!

Thanks to **nderricutt**, **InLoveWithMusicals**, **mollu123456789**, **princess-alice-malfoy-granger**, **jennabolla**, **cleotheo**, **Carlaisabel**, **Elased**, **Ellybelly07**, **Ramyfan** and **LadiePhoenix007**!


	5. Peter Pettigrew

Chapter 5

Over the next few weeks, Potter continued to make regular stops at Lupin's office after dinner, but they had yet to figure out exactly what was going on inside.

"What could they possibly be doing?" Blaise grumbled, as they hid behind a statue and watched as the door closed, "I'm about to just barge in there."

"Not a bad idea, Blaise," Hermione commented before strolling out from their hiding place and heading to the office, "Alohomora," she whispered, pointing her wand at the door.

She took a deep breath, before swinging the door open. Potter was standing there with his wand out, pointing at a dementor. Lupin was standing by, watching, and neither of them noticed her entrance because Potter was too busy shouting,

"Expecto Patronum."

To Hermione's surprise, Potter managed to conjure not a full Patronus, but the beginnings of one and he forced the dementor back into a trunk. _A trunk_? Hermione thought, _so it's not a Dementor, but a boggart_.

"Miss Granger, what are you doing in here?" Lupin asked, finally noticing her.

"I knocked," Hermione said, faintly, "no one answered, and the door was unlocked…"

"What can I help you with?" He asked, fairly impatiently.

"Oh, I'll just ask you in class," she said, quickly, "Goodnight."

* * *

"So Potter's trying to learn the Patronus charm," Draco said, looking mildly impressed, "Didn't think he'd have it in him."

"Yes, well, if Potter can do something, I certainly need to learn it." Hermione replied, furiously flipping through pages of a textbook. The Slytherins had returned to their common room, but first Hermione had stopped by the library to find a book explaining the details of a Patronus charm.

"Not everything's a competition, Hermione," Pansy said, laughing.

Hermione shot her a look, before shifting her focus back onto the book.

"Hermione, you know you'll be able to do that spell on the first try—you're worth 20 of Potter." Draco said, "It's getting late, we probably should all get to bed."

Hermione stayed up for hours after her friends had fallen asleep, practicing the Patronus Charm; she didn't have a boggart or anything to practice on, but she knew that a Patronus could be conjured without one. Her parents had taught her a lot of magic, magic that students her age would never have any hope of accomplishing, but they had never put much effort in the Patronus Charm. In fact, Hermione knew that there were not many Death Eaters that were even capable of producing a Patronus. Hermione assumed this was not because they were incapable of it, but more that they didn't feel the charm to be necessary to learn. After all, the Dementors were dark creatures and they were dark witches and wizards. However, Hermione wasn't a Death Eater, not yet, and it was for that reason that she was determined to learn it—even if only to show Potter up and then never use it again. By the end of the night, she was able to conjure about as much of a Patronus that she had seen Potter do earlier that night. Content with her improvement, she finally went up to bed.

* * *

The entire school was buzzing with gossip at breakfast the next day. Sirius Black had somehow made it, not only back into Hogwarts, but also into the Gryffindor Common Room, due to the stupidity of Longbottom. Weasel had apparently woken up to the sound of his bed curtains ripping and saw Black standing there with a knife. How Black had once again managed to get back out of the castle without getting caught was a mystery to all, but Hermione was more curious about why he had a knife and why he was hovering over Weasel and not Potter.

"Maybe he had the wrong bed," Blaise said, as they headed down to the dungeons for Potions, "I mean, it would have been dark."

"I don't buy it," Hermione said, "Black is smart enough to get in and out of Hogwarts undetected—he would be smart enough to figure out what bed was Potter's."

"And the knife—why would he have a knife?" Draco added, "We know he's not trying to kill Potter. Why bring a weapon?"

"Who could he possibly be trying to hurt in their dormitory?" Hermione continued, "it just doesn't add up."

They took their seats at their tables, and Draco sneered over at the Gryffindors, where Weasel was holding court, telling the story of discovering Black yet again.

"Look at him, he's loving the attention." Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

"And what did you do when you saw Black, Weasel?" Draco called, "Did you scream like a little girl?"

"I bet the only reason Black ran off is because your screaming gave him a headache," Hermione added, laughing.

"It's too bad you look nothing like Potter, maybe he would have stabbed you and saved us all the trouble." Draco interjected. The other Slytherins in the classroom laughed, but the Gryffindors went silent.

"That sounds like a threat, Malfoy," Weasel replied, getting to his feet. Draco stood up as well.

"Well if it sounds like one, it must be one." Draco replied, smirking. The two of them took several steps forward until they were face-to-face. Weasel went to grab his wand, but Draco was quicker, and jabbed the tip of his wand against Weasel's neck, "Careful, Weasel," he whispered, "you wouldn't want to get hurt."

The two wizards stood like that for a moment, neither of them moving, as the rest of the class watched in silence. Hermione hoped that Draco got a couple of good spells in before Professor Snape got there.

With his wand still pressed against Weasel, Draco began walking, pushing Weasel until he was back at his seat.

"Sit down, Weasel, you're out of your league."

Draco stepped away from him just as Professor Snape entered the room,

"What's going on in here?"

"Nothing, Professor," Draco said as he headed back to his chair, "Just was hearing from Weasley how brave he was in the face of a mass murderer."

The Gryffindor side of the room was still seething as Professor Snape begun the lesson.

* * *

"I forgot to tell you," Draco said, later that week, as the friends sat in the common room, "Hagrid is actually appealing that creature's execution—he has to go back to the Ministry and try to convince them to let it live."

"He'd have better luck trying to convince a vampire to stop drinking blood." Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "When's the appeal?"

"After Easter," he replied, "Speaking of which, we _are_ going home for Easter, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes. I want to talk to the Dark Lord about Peter Pettigrew."

"Why?" Pansy piped in, from her spot by the fireplace.

"Something just isn't adding up, and I want more information about everything that can relate back to Black."

* * *

"I wonder what the Inner Circle has been up to while we've been gone," Draco said, as the four friends waited in one of the sitting rooms in Malfoy Manor. They were expected to talk at the meeting about what had been going on at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, they were not allowed to attend the beginning of the meeting.

"Something major must be going on," Pansy replied, "why else wouldn't they want us to hear what they're planning?"

"I just hope they have some insight on Black and Pettigrew," Hermione added, "Whatever we're missing has something to do with them, I know it."

Suddenly, Narcissa appeared at the doorway, "You all can come in now."

They all stood up quickly and followed Narcissa through the hallway to the meeting room. She opened the door and went to her seat by Lucius and they entered quietly behind her. The room was filled with some chatter; obviously the Death Eaters had taken a break while waiting for them to come in. Hermione looked around as they walked over to the Dark Lord, noting the parchments on the table. As she squinted to look at them, Lucius began to roll them up and put them away. _What are they planning_? She wondered, but got distracted as they arrived at the head of the table. She glanced up at the Dark Lord, who had stood upon their entrance into the room, and momentarily froze as they made eye contact. Draco grabbed her hand and pulled her into a bow.

"My Lord," they murmured together.

"Oh, sit, my young friends, we have much to talk about."

They headed to their seats at the other end of the table. _Why must I always act like a star struck child around Him_? Hermione asked herself, shaking her head.

"What news do you have of Potter?"

Draco began filling him in on the Dementors, Potter's lessons with Lupin and Black's appearances in the castle. When he finished speaking, he glanced over at Hermione.

"My Lord," she started, "I was wondering what you could tell us about Peter Pettigrew."

The mood in the room immediately changed and Hermione wondered if it was because they were speaking of a dead man, or if there was actually something bad about Pettigrew that they really did not know.

"Why do you wish to know about Pettigrew?" The Dark Lord asked, quietly. _There is something we don't know_, Hermione realized, _I can tell just by his tone of voice_.

"Something just isn't seeming to add up with how Black is acting and what he is doing at Hogwarts. We just feel as though we are missing a major piece in the puzzle."

The Dark Lord sighed, "I knew this time would come. Although he was quite helpful to me, I don't care much for him. Too frightened for my tastes—too cowardly. Ah, well, I suppose it is time for him to return to us."

"Return?" Hermione asked, "He's dead, though."

"Oh no, Peter Pettigrew is very much alive."

* * *

**Author's Note:** If you've been on my profile, you know I've been apologizing profusely for my absence. This semester is kicking my ass! I am hoping to be able to update continuously for the rest of the month, though then I have some bad news for you: I will be studying abroad for all of May and June and half of July and won't be able to update until I return in July. I'm sorry! Because of that, I again will try to update very continuously for the rest of April to make up for my absence. Anyways, please review and tell me what you think of the chapter! Thanks!

Thanks to **InLoveWithMusicals**, **LadiePhoenix007**, **princess-alice-malfoy-granger**, **jennabolla**, **Aghaliam**, **Carlaisabel**, **Narnia and Harry Potter 4 EVER**, **mollu123456789**, **Ramyfan **and **cleotheo** for reviewing!


	6. Too Slow

Chapter 6

"I'm sorry?" Hermione asked, not quite believing that she heard him correctly, "Alive?"

"Yes, Hermione," the Dark Lord said. He paused, and then sighed, "I suppose it is a rather long story, so I might as well start at the beginning. As you all know, it was Pettigrew who turned the Potters over to me. Sirius Black had come up with the plan—thinking that we would never expect the Potters to put their faith in such a mediocre wizard. When Black found out that Pettigrew had betrayed them, he went after him. I know what the public—including all of you, thinks happened next—they think that Black blew up Pettigrew out of the rage of the betrayal. That's not the case. You see, Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered Animagus. A rat," the Dark Lord paused again, "I did always think that matched his personality well."

Pieces of the puzzle started to connect in Hermione's mind as the Dark Lord continued his story. _A rat_, _Sirius Black with a knife over Weasel's bed. _Weasel's_ bed, not Potter_.

"Pettigrew cut off his own finger, then cast the curse that blew up those Muggles and as far as everyone knew, himself as well. It looked to all others that Black had cast the curse.

"I'm sure you're all wondering how I know this—since that was days after Potter managed to _defeat_ me. When I was hiding out in Albania, I ran into Pettigrew very soon after that, as a matter of fact. As a rather useless wizard, I knew that he would be unhelpful in helping me to return, so I gave him another task—I sent him back here, not really thinking he would do anything useful as a rat or a spy. You can imagine my surprise to find out that he was acting as a pet for twelve long years, conveniently in a family that Potter would befriend and cherish."

Everyone stared at the Dark Lord with blank faces, all except for Hermione, Draco, Blaise and Pansy. They knew a certain Gryffindor with a pet rat that was friends with Potter.

"You've got to be kidding me," Hermione muttered, "what are the odds?"

"One in a million, I would say," the Dark Lord replied, smoothly, "very hard to believe, I'm sure, but it is the truth."

"How did you find out where Pettigrew ended up?" Draco asked, "You said that it's time for him to return to us, meaning he doesn't know you're alive."

"Yes, Draco," the Dark Lord said, pulling out his wand. He waved it quickly and a newspaper appeared in front of him. He passed it to Lucius, "The rat on young Ronald Weasley's shoulder—that is Peter Pettigrew, and that is how I found out." Lucius looked at it closely, before passing it down the table. When it got to Hermione, she recognized the picture from when the Weasley's had won that money and went on their trip to Egypt.

"Unbelievable," she said, before passing the paper to Pansy. She looked back up at the Dark Lord, "So Black is at Hogwarts to kill Pettigrew? How did he find out that he was alive?"

"I can only assume that he got his hands on the same issue of the Prophet and saw the rat for himself." The Dark Lord replied, "It is the only logical explanation."

The room was silent as everyone took in the momentous news.

"Well now that we are all on the same page," the Dark Lord continued, "I must ask one more task of you four."

"Anything, my Lord." Hermione replied.

"Find Pettigrew and bring him to me."

* * *

"How are we going to get our hands on that rat?" Pansy complained, as they followed the Gryffindors back up to their dorm a few weeks later.

"The school year is almost over," Blaise added, "What are we going to do if we can't get him before then?"

"I have a plan that can be used as a last resort on the train if it comes to that," Draco said, "Now let's get back to the common room. Didn't you want to show us something, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded, grinning. She had finally mastered the Patronus charm, and was very excited to show her friends. She knew that Potter had not been able to produce a corporeal Patronus yet, since he had been continuing his trips to Lupin's office. Ever since she begun teaching herself the spell, she had wondered what form her Patronus would take, and she was pleased with the results.

"Alright, go on, show us." Blaise said, dropping down on the couch in the common room. It was late enough at night that the four friends were the only students in the room.

Hermione smirked, before standing in front of her friends and pulling out her wand. She thought of the Dark Lord—how happy she had been when they had brought him back to life and when he had praised her and her friends in the Chamber of Secrets.

"Expecto Patronum!"

She watched as a fox appeared from her wand and began scurrying around the room. The smirk did not leave her face even as the Patronus disappeared.

Pansy and Draco started clapping, with grins on their faces, and Blaise began to cheer.

"You've shown Potter up, once again," Draco said, still grinning, "I suppose you're quite proud of yourself."

"You could say that," Hermione replied, haughtily, as she sat down next to him. Draco pulled a letter out of his pocket,

"I forgot to read this earlier," he explained as he opened it, "It's from my father."

He began to read it; Hermione scooted closer to him in order to read over his shoulder. Moments later, the two of them looked up, and began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Blaise groaned.

"That oaf lost the appeal—the execution of _Buckbeak_ has been scheduled for tomorrow."

"Tell me that we're going to go and watch," Pansy said, spitefully, "Does it say exactly what time?"

"Yes—sundown." Hermione confirmed.

"I'll bet Hagrid cries." Blaise said, sniggering.

"Do you think he'll tell the _Trio_ about it?" Pansy asked, "Will they be there too?"

"I certainly hope so," Draco said, "I want to see Potter's face as he realizes that he lost to us… again."

* * *

"Macnair will be the executioner, won't he," Pansy said as the group stood at the top of the hill, with a perfect view of Hagrid's hut and the Hippogriff that was chained up outside.

"Yes," Draco said, "Why?"

"Should we ask him for help getting Pettigrew?"

"Absolutely not," Hermione replied, "We don't need help. We'll get him."

At that, Hermione heard voices coming from further up the hill, and turned to see Potter, Longbottom and Weasel.

"Ah, come to see the show?" Hermione called, sweetly. Weasel growled with anger, before charging down the hill. He had his wand to Hermione's neck and her back pressed up against the stone of the rock formation behind her before she could even blink. She saw Draco move toward them, but she held a hand out to stop him.

"It's fine, Draco," she said, calmly, "Let's see what the Weasel can do."

The group stood in silence as Hermione and Weasel stared each other down. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Hermione knocked his wand out of his hand, grabbed him by one shoulder and spun around, slamming him roughly into the stone. She pulled out her wand and pressed it to his chest.

"Too slow," she whispered.

"Expelliarmus," Potter cried out. Hermione's wand flew from her hand. She turned her head around to glare at Potter.

"Seriously?" She said.

"Let him go, Granger," Potter replied, "You don't have your wand. Just let him go."

Hermione shrugged, and made like she was about to back off. However, at the very last moment, she changed her mind and turned quickly, rearing back and punching Weasel right in the face. A quick burst of pain emitted through her hand, but she ignored it, triumphantly watching Weasel curse and bring a hand to his bleeding nose. She turned to face Potter, daring him to say anything.

"My wand, Potter," she held out her hand. Narrowing his eyes in anger, he tossed her the wand, before rushing over to help Weasel.

"Let's get down to Hagrid's," Longbottom suggested. The three Gryffindors trudged off. Hermione was a bit surprised that they would give up like that, but she shrugged and turned back toward her friends. All three of them had huge grins on their faces.

"Brilliant," Draco said, throwing an arm around her shoulder, "Absolutely brilliant."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hope you enjoy the chapter! I was excited about it simply because Hermione got to punch Weasel. Please review and tell me what you think!

P.S. I did decide to change Hermione's Patronus, since she is different and I didn't really feel like an otter suited her. I actually took a "What's your Patronus" quiz online, thinking like Hermione, to see what her results would be. I didn't think it would work that well, but I got a fox and I actually thought the description worked out really well. It said: "Your patronus takes the form of a Fox. Clever, discreet and sneaky when necessary, a fox uses his cunning and wit to his advantage. Like a fox, you are very intelligent and are particularly street smart. You tend to keep your guard up, but you do let your guard down when you are around those you trust. You tend to have trouble conjuring a patronus during a battle, because you instinctively gravitate to more direct methods like a disarming spell or blasting curse to harm your foe." IT JUST SEEMED SO RIGHT ON, AM I RIGHT? Tell me what you think.

Thanks to **InLoveWithMusicals**, **princess-alice-malfoy-granger**, **LadiePhoenix007**, **Ramyfan**, **DauntlessSlytherinTribute** and a guest for reviewing.

**InLoveWithMusicals:** Thanks for the review and your concern about my studies! It's not so much that it's getting in the way, it's just that my professors are throwing a lot of random busy work at us that is keeping me occupied!

**DauntlessSlytherinTribute:** Thanks for the review! I'm pretty excited. I'll be in Spain and Hungary, and I've never been out of the country besides Canada and Mexico so I'm PSYCHED.


	7. The Grim

Chapter 7

"Do you think they'll get in trouble for being out of the castle so late?" Pansy asked, peeking her head around the stone formation to watch as the Minister walked down to Hagrid's hut with Macnair and Dumbledore. The Slytherins had just narrowly avoided being caught themselves, but had hid in time.

"If Potter has a wise bone in his body, he would have brought down his Invisibility Cloak," Draco said, "look, they're knocking."

Just as the Minister rapped on the front door of Hagrid's hut, the back door opened. Draco was right though; no one was visible as the door was then closed.

"I don't know who is right _more_—you or Hermione." Blaise said, shaking his head.

"Do you think they'll come back up this way?" Pansy asked, "We should probably hide again. See where they go next."

"Let's just go back to the common room," Blaise complained, "they're just going to go back up to Gryffindor Tower—nothing interesting is going to happen. It never does with them, they're _boring_."

"Blaise, you sound like a spoiled five year old," Hermione snapped, "Yes, let's hide behind this." As she spoke, she moved to the other side of the stone formation, blocking her from view if the Gryffindors happened to come back up this way. Draco followed quickly behind her. Pansy dragged Blaise behind another piece of stone, and the friends began to wait. Hermione didn't know how long they should stand there—the Invisibility Cloak caused that problem, but a few minutes later Hermione heard voices. Specifically, Weasel's voice.

"Scabbers! Keep still!"

Hermione froze—Pettigrew was with them, this could be the perfect chance. Weasel let out a yelp of pain and apparently dropped 'Scabbers', because the rat appeared on the ground and scurried off. Whipping the Invisibility Cloak off of the group, Weasel ran after his pet, yelling at him to come back. Longbottom and Potter groaned, looking at each other, and went after their friend. Forgetting all about the Hippogriff's execution, the four Slytherins began to follow the group.

* * *

"Why do you think Pettigrew is acting out?" Pansy asked, as they ducked behind a line of trees to keep out of sight. Potter, Weasel and Longbottom had just stopped, stupidly enough, by the Whomping Willow. Weasel was on the ground, finally having captured his rat.

"Probably because of that." Draco said, pointing at something to his right. Weasel must have noticed it at the same moment, because he screamed,

"Harry, Neville, run, it's the Grim! Run!"

The supposed Grim had been the topic of many Divination classes, since Trelawney was obsessed with the fact that Potter had seen it and was going to die. However this creature was very, very real today, as it charged at Weasel. Hermione gasped, moving closer, trying to get a better view of the dog.

"That's no Grim," she murmured, the realization hitting her, "That's Sirius Black."

Blaise, Pansy and Draco all turned to look at her in shock, but their heads all whipped forward quickly when they heard Weasel yell. The dog had his foot grasped around its jaw and was dragging him—and Pettigrew, toward the Whomping Willow. They then disappeared into a hole in the trunk.

"How do you know that it's Black?" Draco asked, as Potter and Longbottom begun trying to get to the secret entrance in the tree without being hit by its dangerous limbs.

"I don't know why I didn't think of it before; everyone who has talked about Peter Pettigrew has only had one thing to say about him—that he was mediocre, below average. How could a second-rate wizard ever figure out how to become an Animagus? He couldn't—not alone. Sirius Black is an Animagus, and I wouldn't be surprised if James Potter was as well."

"That could explain how he escaped Azkaban as well," Draco added, "the Dementors wouldn't recognize him as a dog."

Hermione turned to see that Longbottom and Potter were gone, "They made it in."

"Are we going in there after them?" Pansy asked, "If that dog really is Sirius Black, then there's no way he's leaving that…tree, with Pettigrew alive."

"Precious Potter is far too moral to condone murder," Draco said, "He'll want him taken to the Dementors."

"That's not much better, Draco, it will be even harder to get Pettigrew then." Pansy said.

"Don't worry," Hermione said, "I have a plan."

As Pansy was opening her mouth, presumably to ask the plan, Hermione shushed her and pointed out that Lupin was heading toward the tree.

"How did he know that they were here?" Blaise wondered, as he too disappeared into the entrance.

"I just wish we knew what was going on down there," Pansy said, "I don't like not knowing."

"I'll give you a brief rendition, Pans," Draco said, "You killed my parents, I'm going to kill you."

"Harry, no," Blaise joined in, attempting to sound like Longbottom, "That's illegal, what would my grandmother think?"

"I'll kill him for you, Harry." Draco declared, portraying Weasel. Hermione began to grin.

"Shut up, both of you." Pansy said, looking serious. As always, the boys didn't catch on.

"Who are you trying to be? Black or Lupin?" Blaise asked.

"I'm trying to be myself, look," she pointed and the four Slytherins turned to see Professor Snape heading toward the entrance of the tree as well. He immobilized the tree before reaching over and grabbing something from the ground—Potter's Invisibility Cloak.

"What in Merlin's name is happening here?" Draco said, "How is Professor Snape involved?"

"Well, nothing we can do but wait and see."

* * *

When Sirius Black exited the tunnel levitating an unconscious Professor Snape, while simultaneously assisting Weasel in walking, with the help of Potter on the other side, they knew that something interesting had gone down. Longbottom came out behind them and finally Lupin came out with a wand pointed at a short man, with ratty hair—Peter Pettigrew.

"There he is," Hermione whispered, "now how do we get him?"

The group took a break immediately upon exiting—the tree still immobilized. Black and Potter helped Weasel sit down, before walking a few feet away to talk quietly. Black had dropped Professor Snape on the ground by the entrance. They were close enough that the Slytherins could vaguely hear what they were saying.

"I don't know if anyone told you this, but I'm your godfather." Black said, sort of awkwardly.

"Yeah, I did know that." Potter replied. Obviously he had discovered the truth in the caves, and Draco was right that Potter wouldn't let them kill Pettigrew.

"If you ever—and you don't have to, but, if you ever wanted somewhere else to stay—"

"Come and live with you?" Potter asked, his face lighting up, "Could I really?"

Before Black could reply, Longbottom shouted,

"Harry!"

The two turned to look at Longbottom, and the Slytherins did as well, wondering what was going on. Pettigrew was furiously talking to Lupin, who had gone still.

"Did you take your potion tonight, my friend?" Pettigrew asked, glancing nervously up at the sky.

"Oh Merlin," Hermione whispered, "It's a full moon."

As Hermione finished her sentence, there was a loud howl and Lupin began to transform before their eyes. Moments later, a werewolf stood in his place. Black pushed Potter back toward his friends and turned to face Lupin head on.

"What should we do?" Pansy asked, looking nervous for the first time since Hermione had met her.

"There's nothing we can do," Draco said, "but see how it plays out."

Black transformed back into his Animagus form, and the two creatures began to fight.

"Look," Blaise pointed at Pettigrew, who was backing slowly away from the fight. Potter had noticed as well and had his wand pointed at the man, who grinned evilly before transforming.

"Blaise, Pansy, go after him," Hermione ordered, "Now!"

The two ran off without saying a word. When Hermione turned back to look at the scene, Black was gone and Potter was in the midst of a stare-off with a werewolf. It approached him slowly.

"We have to do something," Hermione hissed, "The Dark Lord wouldn't want him killed, not like this—not now."

Thinking on her feet, Hermione opened her mouth and let out a howl.

"What was that?" Draco muttered, "Was that supposed to be a howl?"

"Shut up," she snapped, smiling, before howling again. The werewolf turned, looking for the source of the noise, before running toward it.

"Great, now it's coming for us." Draco said, grabbing her arm, "Run."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry it's late, but it is still technically Sunday! Happy Easter, everyone, I hope you enjoy the chapter. I kind of think it's shit, so tell me what you think! See you next week!

Thanks to **LadiePhoenix007**, **DauntlessSlytherinTribute**, **Ramyfan**, **Carlaisabel**, **jennabolla**, **princess-alice-malfoy-granger**, **isaacswolfsbane**, **the-clumsy-one** and a guest for reviewing!


	8. Saving Potter

Chapter 8

Hermione turned quickly and made to run further into the woods, but Draco began to drag her in the opposite direction—parallel to the tree line instead of perpendicular.

"If we ran deeper into the forest, we would just be trapping ourselves," Draco explained, as they continued to run, "Lupin won't be able to hurt anyone now, he'll just run around the forest all night."

"Good thinking," Hermione said, as they slowed down. She put her hands on her knees and began gasping out breaths, waiting for her heart rate to slow down.

"You're out of shape," Draco commented, grinning widely. She glanced up at him with a scowl, realizing that he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Shut up, you prat."

A few moments later she straightened up, then looked around. From their spot, she could see where Potter and his group had been and they were all gone. Even Professor Snape's unconscious body was nowhere in sight. Hermione wiped her hand quickly against the sweat on her upper lip. This night was unseasonably humid for the time of year, and suddenly Hermione was wishing for winter's chill. It would certainly be better than this muggy heat.

"What now?" Draco said, glancing around as well.

"We should find Blaise and Pansy," Hermione replied, "See if they've found Pettigrew."

"If they didn't," Draco paused, and cast her a meaningful glance, as the pair began to walk in the direction that Pansy and Blaise had ran, "the Dark Lord will not be pleased."

"I'm not worried about that," Hermione said, carelessly, "It's the Dark Lord we're talking about; eventually we're going to screw up—no one is perfect, and he'll punish us. I would rather get it over with."

"You realize I'm talking about being tortured, right?" Draco asked, looking at her like she was barmy.

Hermione shrugged, nonchalantly. The thought of the Dark Lord torturing her didn't scare her as much as it should.

Suddenly Draco froze and put an arm out in front of her, stopping her from walking further.

"What?"

She looked up and gasped at the sight before her, and didn't understand why she hadn't realized something was wrong—the humidity had left the air, leaving it bitter and cold. Hundreds of Dementors were in this clearing, surrounding Potter and Sirius Black—who already looked to be unconscious. Potter was trying to fight off the Dementors, but as Hermione had already known, he could not produce a corporeal Patronus. She could tell he was weakening—she could see it in his posture, and suddenly she thanked Merlin for her competitive nature.

"Hermione, he's dying," Draco said, pushing her forward lightly, "He can't die like this."

She nodded, before stepping further into the clearing. She could only hope that Potter would never remember seeing her there. Taking a deep breath, she thought of the moment that changed everything over Easter, something that she hadn't told anyone.

_It had happened after the meeting when they found out about Peter Pettigrew being alive. While the rest of her friends had gone up to bed hours ago, she had gone to the Malfoy Family Library in order to look into one aspect of their mission that they had yet to begin. Hermione had been wondering all year how they were going to determine if Professor Snape was still loyal to the cause and finally she had come up with a viable idea—Legilimency_. _ She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before, but this had posed her next problem: Professor Snape had been taught Occlumency from the Dark Lord himself. It would not be an easy process to read his mind, and it would undoubtedly take months for Hermione to learn the skill. As she flipped through the book, careful to absorb every word on the page, she did not notice someone entering the room. _

_ "Legilimency?" A voice asked from behind her. Hermione jumped, startled, before turning to face the Dark Lord. She quickly got to her feet and bowed before her Lord. He waved his hand carelessly, telling her that she could sit back down. She was rather surprised when he took the seat across from her. "Why are you trying to learn Legilimency, Miss Granger? It's not an easy skill to acquire."_

_ "I've determined it's the best way to determine Professor Snape's loyalty, my Lord." Hermione replied, casually. She had not been alone with the Dark Lord since their time in the Chamber of Secrets, and was anxious to not sound like a star-struck child anymore. Tom Riddle nodded, looking mildly impressed._

_ "It was a skill that I, myself, learned around your age as well. Would you like some help?"_

_ "Yes, my Lord, I know that I have my work cut out for me, since he is a very talented Occlumens."_

_Hermione had spent half of the night in the library, being taught by the Dark Lord himself. By the end of the night, she felt almost as comfortable around him as she did around Draco or Blaise—she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, since she needed to remember he was not her friend, but her Lord. The next night after her friends had gone to sleep, she had gone to the library again, hoping that he would show up—and he had. She ended up in the library with him every night until she needed to return to school. One night she had even shown him her Patronus, she had actually almost laughed at the shocked expression on his face. He had promised her that he would start teaching her more complicated magic when she returned for the summer, a fact that incited her greatly._

"Expecto Patronum!"

Hermione watched as her fox Patronus chased away all of the Dementors. Draco grabbed her arm before it had even disappeared,

"We need to get back up to the castle," he said, "I'm sure Professor Snape went to get Dumbledore and we don't need them finding us down here."

Hermione nodded at her best friend, before the two headed back up to the school.

* * *

"Tell us you got him," Hermione said, as they entered the common room and saw Pansy and Blaise seated on the couch.

"How little faith you have in us," Blaise said, with an exaggerated hurt expression on his face, "You two aren't the only ones who can get things done."

At that, Pansy leaned over and grabbed a large glass jar off of the floor beside her. Inside of it, was a very nervous looking rat, scratching at the glass and trying to escape.

"I casted an Unbreakable Charm on the glass," Pansy explained, "He can't transform. We didn't want to risk it—the Dark Lord did call him a coward, after all."

"Shall we let him out and talk to him?" Draco asked, with a smirk.

"Oh, no, I'm sure he can hear us fine from in there," Hermione said, unsympathetically, as she walked over to Pansy and took the jar from her, "The Dark Lord is back, Peter Pettigrew," she continued, looking at the rat as its eyes widened, "So you're coming back home with us."

* * *

The next morning the school was abuzz with the news. Sirius Black had been captured. He was locked away somewhere in the school, awaiting the Dementor's Kiss later that day. Potter was still in the Hospital Wing, so she could only try to imagine the look on his face when he heard the news. She grinned just thinking about it. _First Buckbeak, now your godfather_, she thought, _it certainly has been a productive week_.

"Do you think there's a way that we could watch?" Blaise asked, as the friends headed out of the Great Hall after breakfast.

"Yes, I'm sure if we went up to Dumbledore he would be more than willing to let four third years watch a more disturbing version of an execution," Draco said, sarcastically.

"Hermione could cast a Disillusionment charm on us all," Blaise replied, defensively, "I know she perfected hers to the point of complete concealment."

Draco looked at Hermione, impressed. The four of them all knew the charm enough to get by on a regular basis, but not enough that they would normally risk trying it for something like this.

Hermione shrugged,

"I practiced over Easter Holidays," she said, casually, "I think we could get away with it."

"Great," Draco said, slinging an arm over her shoulder, "but before we do that, can we go look at that Hippogriff's head? I'm thinking about sending it up to the Hospital Wing as a get-well present for Potter."

The four friends laughed as they headed outside.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry I'm a day late but better than nothing! Please review and tell me what you think! I will probably be able to upload one more chapter before I leave next week!

Thanks to **jennabolla**, **Ellybelly07**, **cleotheo**, **princess-alice-malfoy-granger**, **Ramyfan**, **isaacswolfsbane**, **LadiePhoenix007**, **LoveYouRebornSama** and **Carlaisabel **for reviewing!


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